Monday, April 29, 2013

Luka





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Nana"a butt




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You have to had a bad day once and awhile I guess... right?

I've had my share of really bad days but lately not so much so I guess I was do for one. Today started out with Micah rolling in something nasty in the yard, that was first thing in the a.m. As soon as I let them out I realized that the ducks were right by the door so they waddled in high speed and Micah most likely found duck poop. Next, the mower had died on me Saturday, and Sunday it rained all day so I just let it sit outside in the yard.

During lunch I pushed the thing through the backyard and down the driveway to the garage. The battery has been a pain since last year and now it runs for 30 seconds and just cuts out. So, I called our neighbors because I had a feeling the problems where the battery terminals needed clean and the gas line was clogged. John and his wife are just super people and I knew John would be able to help me find the problem and possibly fix it.

We changed the fuel filter but it seems the carborator needs cleaned out so we sprayed some cleaner in it which is a quick but not permanent fix. The battery terminals where easy and we changed the spark plugs for extra measure. I am now charging the battery in hopes that it will now hold the charge.

I guess all of that wasn't bad except I am exhausted and smell like gas and oil. Work of course was very busy and I had plenty to do during the day besides the animal explosions and stubborn mowers.

Tomorrow is shots day for the dogs so I will be shoving 4 of them in a Corolla and moseying down the road with them. They will be very excited for the car ride but probably not after we get where we are going.

Wednesday Kylie has to meet with her counselor and we have to make time to go see the horses. The lawn is off the hook and is growing like 8 inches an hour (well at least it looks like it).

One good thing is that the Killdeer on the patio had abandoned her nest with four eggs over a week ago or maybe something got her and I found another nest in the driveway with 1 egg, so I put the four eggs in that nest. The mom bird sat on the nest but she did look a littler perplexed. I was reading that the eggs aren't always sat on right away till all the eggs are laid but they will hatch at the same time. It's a long shot but if they do hatch this little momma bird is going to be busy.

We marked the driveway so we don't run over the nest. If she lays more eggs we will be having a big bunch of birds in the front yard for sure. Not that we don't already because the ducks are always on the move, you can't spit without hitting one. They even go inside the electric fence with the ponies and I found a duck egg in the manure we put in the garden.

It's a good thing the neighbors across the road that have chickens don't let them cross the road (no pun intended) or it would be old McDonald's for sure.

Nana has been out of her cage more and she is all over the house getting her nails caught in the carpet and getting mad. She sits on a perch in Kylie's computer room downstairs and keeps Kylie company. I of course sit in my office with all the dogs asleep on the floor and inevitably run over someone's paw with my office chair or trip trying to get to the printer it's like playing dodge dog sometimes.

It's funny because when I call in for a meeting I have to make sure the phone is muted because it's either a random scream coming from Nana or the dogs start to bark because they hear me talking to someone. Crazy place sometimes.

I guess today wasn't such a bad day, it's just spring and there is always something to contend with when springtime comes especially mower's and dogs.  

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Changing my life

I guess it could be an age thing or it could be that I've have time to stop and think about things without living constantly from one difficulty to the next. Being a single parent all these years and not really having any family around for support can put a person in the situation where they stop thinking about taking care of themselves and just get into the habit of always thinking of others. Making ends meet, providing for the wants and needs of another person as both father and mother. There hasn't been time for me to be an individual or a woman in many years, I am always wearing my mom hat.

I think mom's are always moms and that is a good thing but there is more to a woman than just that role. Anyway, this week I have been focusing on change for me, it all started the evening I went to the local diner and when we came out there was a large stock trailer outside. It was the kind that is used for moving stock to lets say slaughterhouses, the sign on the truck was indeed a meat producer.

Okay, so there were baby animals on that trailer, they were crying out. It wasn't just calling to each other they were bawling. It broke my heart. I had to get away from it as fast as I could. Kylie and I both agreed that from that moment on our diets would be limited to fish and a little chicken but that was it for meat. I have been on the fence for awhile but the deciding moment had come.

Fruits and veggies, and good grains are really a good lifestyle choice besides the moral issue that I have with other choices of foods. I can't bare the suffering of creatures, I just can't and I'm not going to be an accomplice to it anymore.

The other part of the changes in my thoughts and lifestyle to take better care of myself is a better sleeping schedule, pacing myself but letting things go and enjoy the moments throughout the day with all I've been blessed with and the mother of them all, to stop smoking.

I quit for six years cold turkey but with the last 2 years of going through some things that really were hard to endure I just don't know if I can do it cold turkey this time. I have stopped and started and limited myself, regardless though I am determined to do it. One thing is to focus on Cody and getting myself in shape to ride like I used to, you have to replace a habit with a habit to be successful so I am fighting the battle in my mind and hopefully I will be able to reroute the over anxiety/energy I have that makes me want to be fidgeting all the time.

Hopefully, this summer will bring about a lot of good changes and a new life in a sense. 

Friday, April 26, 2013

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Horse Trailer's and summer like weather

The days have gotten much nicer and with that it's outside work. We moved the ponies fence so they could graze and mowed some lawn. The Killdeer now has 4 eggs in her nest and is pretty much used to us walking around.

I trimmed some small hedges and cleaned out more flower beds. We went to see Cody and Aubrey and the barn owner has a really nice trailer so we practiced loading Aubrey who is really stubborn. He did okay, the first time was a little bit of a battle but the second time he did it much faster. The in part is easy, it's the backing out that is more difficult. He will get the hang of it.

There's a tiny little girl puppy that is a terrier that lives next door, she is Cooper's new playmate as they chase each other wildly around the yard like little blurs.


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Panting Puppies

With the warmer weather and the rise in humidity, last night in my room it sounded like a group therapy session for a bunch of obscene phone callers... okay maybe even a convention of them. I opened the windows but still all I could hear was the dogs panting.

This weekend I'll be shaving some thick coats, as much as I hate to take away their beautiful fur, they feel and act so much better. Otherwise, they suffer sometimes even with the air conditioning. Really it is just the two Goldens, I give them a lion cut where they keep everything till shoulders and I take the rest off except for a little on their tummies and leave most of their tales.

Dusti has some really bad allergies and with taking his coat off and a good bath he suffers much less. His fur always grows back just as soft and full as ever. Daniel is just plain hot, he will grow everything back nice and soft since this is the third time I've shaved him for the hotter months.

Micah is never hot thank goodness, Cooper is a big cloud of fur but he is never hot, it isn't as thick and it doesn't lay so flat on his skin. He'll get a trim but on a much smaller scale, since they are my dogs I will trim first then bathe them and dry them, blowing out whatever loose hair is left.

For Dusti, I will make an aloe vera rinse which will give him relief from the itching he experience more around this time of the year.

The fact is that I need to sleep without all the noise and restless dogs that are not happy and totally don't want to snuggle because they are too hot. 

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Hoof trims

Today was blacksmith day at the barn, we went down late this afternoon and I met Ely the Amish blacksmith who trimmed Cody and Aubrey last time. This is the second time he has done Cody's hooves and for years Cody has had cracks in both front hooves, one crack is now completely gone and a tiny little sliver of one is left on the other hoof.

Best of all Ely is a super nice person and is gentle with the horses and is very interested in body language and communicating non verbally with the horses he works on, he also floats teeth with out sedation. He did several horses as I watched and did a great job. Turns out he is good friends with our next door neighbors too and when he drives by in his buggy next time he is going to do the little horses hooves.

Ely charges a small fee for what he does and really has done the best trim I've ever seen, the teeth is an added bonus. Another great thing about today is the small group of people who board at out barn are so about horses and not all the fluff. They are nice to each other, no drama, and it's like a little family. There are girls Kylie's age there and the parents are really nice.

So we all stood around talking and joking while our horses were trimmed, everyone helped each other out and it was fun. Aubrey who has not been trimmed more than maybe twice stood quietly for Ely and was just grand. Both horses are trimmed up and are ready to go, Ely doesn't hot shoe either, he trims and measures and shapes the feet and the shoe without heating it up. All of the gaited horses get shoes and sometimes special ones, there's never a problem with the shoeing.

I'm frozen now because the sun started going down and the barn got cold, I am tired too but it is a good tired.


Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Spring break

Kylie had a friend stay over last night and they stayed up most of the night. Both girls had fun but I am pretty tired. Lots of giggling and being loud makes it tough to sleep.  They decided to watch The Holy Grail of Monty Python fame and so the entire day today has been quips from the movie in silly British accents.

One thing I like about my work is it seems the week flies by. I am getting excited with the nicer weather and have things to do on the weekend I am looking forward to.

I can say I will sleep well tonight, Nana and the dogs were up and down all night with the noise and excitement going through the house. Junk food prevailed too of course and Nana got her share of it. Personally, coffee and sugar were my life line today.

Now the house is quieter again, Kylie is tired and happy. I look forward to going to bed soon and enjoying blissful silence.